Steve Askew – Smalltown Elephants Billboard Poster

The band were signed by Polydor Records in the summer of 1988, and soon after released debut single ‘Walking on Ice’. Alas, the business end of things overtook them, and despite a support tour with A-ha on the UK leg of their world tour, Smalltown Elephants soon disbanded. Footage of the band is notoriously difficult to come by, and despite the A-ha gigs being heavily bootlegged, nobody seems to have support slot recordings. The guys even got some VT airtime on ‘The Tube’ which again seems to be impossible to find. Needless to say, if we ever stumble across any footage, KajaFax readers will be the first to benefit.

What we do have however – the Raison d’être of today’s article – is this rather wonderful photo. Taken in London back in ’86, the image was emailed to us by KajaFan and friend of KajaFax Cris, who takes up the story:

“….I personally took the picture in London in December 1986, in a small street somewhere around the city centre. It is a possession that I am very fond of and I really hope you like it! it is nothing special I know, but… to share it with you, as a friend and fellow fan, it brings back good memories….”

As always, KajaFax extends a huge ‘thank you’ to Cris for being kind enough to send this image to us!

For those who are interested and so far as we know, during their lifespan, Smalltown Elephants played these dates:

30th September 1986: The Marquee Club, London, UK

2nd December 1986: The Marquee Club, London, UK

4 December: Capitol Theatre, Aberdeen, UK

5 December: Caird Hall, Dundee, UK

7 December: Playhouse, Edinburgh, UK

8 December: City Hall, Newcastle, UK

10 December: City Hall, Sheffield, UK

11 December: City Hall, Sheffield, UK

12 December: Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, UK

13 December: Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, UK

15 December: Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK

16 December: Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK

17 December: Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK

18 December: Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK

19 December: Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK

20 December: Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK

22 December: Brighton Centre, Brighton, UK

23 December: Guildhall, Portsmouth, UK

24 December: International Centre, Bournemouth, UK

29 December: Royal Albert Hall, London, UK

30 December: Royal Albert Hall, London, UK

31 December: Royal Albert Hall, London, UK

This list is by no means complete – did you attend a gig by the band that is not on this list?